System and method for automatic provision customer selection, and deactivation of temporary advance intelligent network services

ABSTRACT

System and method for providing a customer with the ability to obtain temporary advanced telecommunication services in the Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) for the customer&#39;s calling line by dialing a call to special access code, without the intervention of a service representative. The call is recognized as a request for an initiation of a temporary advanced telecommunication service with respect to the customer&#39;s calling line. On the basis of the recognition, an association may be retained between the calling line number and the service switching point serving the calling line number. This retained association may be used later in the activation of the temporary advanced telecommunication service for the calling line number. The call is routed to a rental service interface through which rental information from the caller may be collected. This rental information may be compiled into a rental agreement that is used as the basis for activation of the temporary advanced telecommunication services with respect to the caller&#39;s calling line number. Confirmation of the activation may be provided to the communication. The rental information may also include a termination time for the temporary advanced telecommunication services. The termination time and the retained association may be utilized to initiate the deactivation of the temporary advanced telecommunications services.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser No.08/908,068 filed on Aug. 11, 1997, which is expressly incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to the field of telecommunications.This invention particularly relates to the field of activation ofadvanced services in an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN). And evenmore particularly, this invention relates to the field ofcaller-activation of advanced services on a temporary basis in an AIN.This invention also relates to the field of initiating the deactivationof temporary advanced telecommunications services in an AIN.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the competitive market of telecommunication services, a customer maydesire to augment his or her conventional telecommunication service withadvanced services. Generally, an advanced service is a service thatprovides features or functions that are not usually provided within alocal switching system (e.g., #5ESS, manufactured by LucentTechnologies), that are relatively complex, that require coordination ofmultiple systems, and that are implemented typically through the use ofdata communications between or among network elements. Examples ofadvanced services include audio caller ID, flexible call forwarding,etc.

Presently, to obtain advanced services, a customer typically must have apredefined relationship with a telecommunication service provider. Apredefined relationship is required whether the telecommunicationservices are switch-based or whether the telecommunication services areprovided by an AIN. In a switch-based system, the predefinedrelationship is a requirement because many services for a customer areimplemented directly at the switch that serves the customer's callingline. More particularly, in the switch-based system, a block ofinformation with respect to a customer's services is stored in theswitch that serves the customer's calling line. This block ofinformation is stored in the switch because of administration, controland billing reasons. Thus, for a customer to obtain a service, thecustomer has to contact the service provider to pre-register theservice. The service provider then takes steps to specially andindividually configure the block of information required to enable thecustomer's services in the switch that serves the customer's callingline. Thus, in a switch-based system, the predefined relationshipbetween the customer and service provider provides that the switchserving the customer's calling line include a block of informationrelating to the services of the customer.

In the AIN, the predefined relationship between the customer and aservice provider is also a requirement for advanced services, but fordifferent reasons than in the switch-based system. In contrast to theswitch-based system, in the AIN information with respect to the advancedservices of a customer is not stored directly at the switch that servesthe customer's calling line. Rather, in the AIN, information withrespect to a customer's advanced services is generally stored at an AINelement other than the service switching point (SSP) which serves as orin conjunction with a switch in the AIN. Usually, the AIN element thatstores the information is a centralized AIN element such as a servicecontrol point (SCP) that may be accessed via data communications bymultiple SSPs. Typically, such information is stored in a database ortable associated with a service package application (SPA) that may belocated at the SCP. An SCP may be queried via a data communication by anSSP for processing instructions with respect to the implementation ofadvanced services for a communication to or from a customer's callingline that is served by the SSP. Upon receipt of the query, the SCPconsults the appropriate databases or tables and provides a response viaanother data communication to the SSP. This response includes processinginstructions that are carried out by the SSP. In some cases, a servicecircuit node (SCN) may be consulted by the SCP or otherwise used inproviding the advanced services.

Thus, in the AIN, the predefined relationship between the customer andthe service provider provides that an SCP include an entry ofinformation relating to an advanced service of the customer. Also in theAIN, the predefined relationship between the customer and the serviceprovider provides for the appropriate mechanisms to reach the entry ofinformation relating to the advanced service of the customer. Thesemechanisms operate such that an SSP that serves a customer's callingline having advanced services queries via data communication theappropriate SCP for call processing instructions. The SSP then carriesout the instructions received in a response via data communication fromthe SCP.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that is used to illustrate the steps that arepresently taken in order to bring about the predefined relationshipbetween a customer and a service provider in the AIN. As noted, thepredefined relationship must exist in order to presently obtain advancedservices in the AIN. Customer 1, who desires to obtain an advancedservice, contacts the sales/service representative 2 of the customer'stelecommunication service provider. The sales/service representative 2engages the customer in a dialogue and obtains information from thecustomer with respect to the advanced service. The sales/servicerepresentative 2 then enters this information into a service ordersystem 3. The service order system 3 uses the information to derivefurther information with respect to billing issues, to set up an entryof information with respect to the customer's advanced service, and toprovide for the appropriate mechanisms to reach the entry ofinformation.

From the service order system 3, the appropriate information orinstructions based thereon are distributed as appropriate to the billingsystem 4, the service management system (SMS) 5, and the MechanizedAdministration and Recent Change (MARCH). As the term implies, thebilling system 4 uses the information or instructions to set up andcarry out billing to the customer for the advanced service. The SMS 5further distributes the information or instructions as appropriate to aservice circuit node (SCN) 7 and/or a service control point (SCP) 8. Theinformation is incorporated as an entry of information relating to theadvanced service of the customer. Typically, this entry of informationis stored in a database or table associated with an appropriate servicepackage application (SPA). As noted above, this entry of information ispart of the predefined relationship between the customer and the serviceprovider. The MARCH 6 also further distributes the information orinstructions, but the MARCH 6 distributes the information orinstructions to an appropriate SSP 9 so that the appropriate mechanismsare set up at the SSP 9 to enable the SSP 9 to communicate with the SCP8 and obtain instructions based on the entry of information. As alsonoted above, these appropriate mechanisms are part of the predefinedrelationship between the customer and the service provider.

The manner of establishing the requisite predefined relationship with acustomer in the switch-based system or the AIN has posed problems totelecommunication service providers. One such problem is that a customertypically has been unable to obtain an advanced service without theexecution of the lengthy and complex procedures described above that arenecessary to set up the predefined relationship. These lengthy andcomplex procedures preclude a customer from directly setting up his orher own advanced services. These lengthy and complex procedures alsopreclude the short term implementation or “rental” of advanced services.In addition, these lengthy and complex procedures preclude theimplementation of advanced services on short notice. In other words, itis generally impossible to be a “walk-up” customer of advanced services.

With respect to switch-based systems, a solution has been posed in thepatent to Andruska et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,236 to the problems ofallowing a customer to directly set up his or her own switch services,of renting these services for a short term, and of implementing them onshort notice. As noted above, in a switch-based system, a block ofinformation with respect to a customer's advanced services is stored inthe switch that serves the customer's calling line. Andruska et al.provides a feature processor as part of the local switching system foruse in connection with this block of information in the switch. Inresponse to a call from a customer, the feature processor may be used toeffectively change the block of information relating to the customer'sservice map that is stored in the switch.

Yet, Andruska et al. does not solve the problem of the lengthy andcomplex procedures for the set up of a predefined relationship in aswitch-based system. Andruska et al. does not solve this problem becauseAndruska et al. does not address the problem of creating a predefinedrelationship. In Andruska et al., in order for a customer to access thefeature processor to set up or change advanced services, the customerhas to already have a predefined relationship and associated data blockwith the service provider. In other words, the block of information withrespect to the customer must be present in order for Andruska et al.'ssystem to work to set or change the services available. Andruska et al.does not provide for the establishment of the predefined relationship,but rather, works on a predefined relationship that is in place.

Further, Andruska et al. does not present any solution for the AIN. Asnoted, Andruska et al. does not solve the problem of the lengthy andcomplex procedures for the set up of an AIN service. In addition,Andruska et al. does not present any solution for the AIN becauseAndruska et al. is directed to a switch-based system. Thus, the solutionoffered by Andruska et al. is inapplicable to the AIN.

More particularly explained, as noted above, the differences between aswitch-based system and the AIN result in differences in the type ofpredefined relationship that must be established with a customer inorder to provide services. In the AIN, the predefined relationshiprequires an entry of information relating to the advanced service of thecustomer in a centralized AIN element such as an SCP that may beaccessed via data communications by multiple SSPs. Andruska et al.'sposed solution works on the premise that the block of informationrelating to a customer's advanced services is stored in the switchserving the customer's calling line. Thus, Andruska et al.'s posedsolution is inapplicable to the AIN.

In addition, in the AIN, the predefined relationship also requires thatappropriate mechanisms be set up so that the entry of informationrelating to the advanced service of the customer that are stored in thecentralized AIN element may be accessed from an SSP. As noted, Andruskaet al.'s posed solution works on the premise that the block ofinformation relating to a customer's services is stored in the switchserving the customer's calling line and merely toggles access topreexisting services. There is no need in Andruska et al.'s posedsolution for a mechanism to reach an entry of information that is storedin a different element that must be accessed from the switch. Andruskaet al.'s posed solution does not disclose such a mechanism, Thus,Andruska et al.'s posed solution is inapplicable to the AIN.

The problems faced in the AIN have not been solved with respect to theactivities of customer selection and activation of advanced services,delivery of short term or rental of advanced services, andimplementation of such advanced services on short notice. They have notbeen solved because the manner in which the predefined relationship mustbe established between a customer and a service provider precludes theseactivities. In particular, the manner in which an entry of informationfor a customer in a centralized AIN element is set up and the manner inwhich mechanisms are set up to access that entry of information havebeen stumbling blocks to the referenced activities.

As noted, the first of these stumbling blocks is the manner in which anentry of information is set up for a customer in a centralized AINelement. This task has been a stumbling block for several reasons. Asexplained above in connection with FIG. 1, in the AIN presently, theentry of information for a customer is accomplished by the followingseveral steps. These steps include the receipt of the information by thesales/service representative 2, input of such information into theservice order system 3, transmission of the information to the servicemanagement system (SMS) 5, and then finally further distribution of theinformation to a service circuit node 7 or service control point 8.Although this process is necessary, it is a process that requires humanintervention through the use of the sales/service representative, takesa relatively long time, includes quite a few steps, and otherwisegenerally slows down the implementation of advanced services for acustomer.

Although this process of providing an entry of information at thecentralized AIN element is lengthy, the entry of information is limitedto information relating to the particular advanced service to beprovided to the customer. This entry of information does not correlatethe customer and their directory number (calling line) to any particularservice switching point (SSP) or other AIN element that serves thecustomer. Further, neither the SCP nor the SCN maintains any type ofcorrelation table or database between customers′ calling lines and therespective SSPs serving the calling lines. In other words, an SCP doesnot know which SSP serves which customer's calling line. When providingan SSP with processing instructions in response to a query, the SCPaddresses the response based on information that is included in thequery. The query/response exchange defines the relationship incommunications between the SSP and the SCP. The SCP does not otherwisekeep any correlative information between a customer's calling line andits serving SSP.

This lack of correlative information at the SCP is another problem indelivering customer selection and activation of advanced services, therental of advanced services, and the implementation of advanced serviceson short notice. An entry of information may be provided at the SCP, butunless the SCP receives a query from the SSP serving the customer'sline, it is unable to initiate a service without knowing which SSP tocontact. Without this correlation, advanced services may not be appliedto the customer's calling line because these advanced services areenabled through the SSP serving the customer's calling line. In otherwords, the SCP may have an entry of information for a customer thatprovides instructions for advanced services, but the SCP does not itselfhave any information with respect to a place to send the instructionsrelating to the enablement of the advanced services. This is a problembecause the customer does not receive his or her desired advancedservices.

Further, the lack of correlative information at a centralized AINelement such as an SCP or SCN between customers′ calling lines and therespective SSPs that serve these calling lines is not a problem in aswitched-based system. As explained above, in a switch-based system, ablock of information with respect to a customer's services is stored inthe switch that serves the customer's calling line. No other elementgenerally is consulted with respect to the implementation of servicesfor a customer's calling line other than the switch serving the callingline. Thus, there is no need for keeping track of which switch serveswhich calling lines in a switch-based system.

As referenced briefly above, there is at least one other stumbling blockto the provision of customer selection and activation of advancedservices, delivery of short term or rental of advanced services, andimplementation of such advanced services on short notice. This stumblingblock is the manner in which mechanisms are set up to access the entryinformation relating to a customer that is stored in a centralized AINelement from an SSP. This task also has been a stumbling block forseveral reasons. As explained above in connection with FIG. 1, in theAIN presently, the appropriate mechanisms necessary to reach the entryof information at the SCN or the SCP are set up through parallel stepsto the storage of the entry of information. The mechanisms are set upgenerally through a series of steps. These steps include the receipt ofthe information by the sales/service representative 2, input of suchinformation into the service order system 3, transmission of theinformation to MARCH provisional system 5, and then finally furtherdistribution of the information to an appropriate service switchingpoint (SSP) 9.

This task of providing mechanisms is very important because withoutmechanisms at the appropriate SSP to provide access to the entry ofinformation relating to the customer, there is no link then between thecustomer's calling line and the entry of information stored in thecentralized AIN element. As noted above, neither the SCP nor the SCNmaintains any type of correlation table or database between customer'scalling lines and the respective SSPs serving the calling lines. Thus,these mechanisms are the only link between the SSP serving a customer'scalling line and the instructions that are contained in the entry ofinformation in the centralized AIN element that pertain to theimplementation of advanced services with respect to a customer's callingline. Although the mechanisms are necessary, the manner in which thesemechanisms are set up presently requires human intervention through theuse of the sales/service representative, takes a relatively long time,includes quite a few steps, and otherwise generally slows down theimplementation of advanced services for a customer.

In addition to the problems described above relating to customerselection and activation of advanced services, there is an additionalproblem of initiating the deactivation of the advanced services. Forinstance, a customer may desire that the selected and activated advancedservice be terminated at a specific time. As an example, a customer mayrequest that the call forwarding temporary advanced telecommunicationservice be applied to their calling line only while the customer is inChicago on business. Because the customer plans on visiting Chicago foronly one week, the customer may select a termination time requestingthat the call forwarding temporary advanced telecommunication service bedeactivated after one week.

In another scenario, a customer may request that the voice mailtemporary advanced telecommunication service be applied to their callingline for three days while the customer spends a long weekend on Miamibeach. The customer may select a termination time after which the voicemail temporary advanced telecommunication service should be deactivated.The customer then expects the voice mail temporary advancedtelecommunication service to be applied their calling line only for thespecified time, three days, and to be deactivated thereafter. For thisto occur, however, there must exist some means to initiate thedeactivation of the temporary advanced telecommunication servicefollowing the expiration of the termination time requested by thecustomer. The temporary advanced telecommunication service cannotcontinue in operation past the termination time and the service must notbe deactivated prior to the termination time.

A number of methods currently exist for initiating the deactivation of atemporary advanced telecommunication service at the termination time.One method is through manual deactivation by a human servicerepresentative. The service representative may manually enter thedeactivation information into a service order system computer. Thedeactivation information may then be passed to a service managementsystem, and subsequently to a service control point (SCP) computer,which then takes steps to deactivate the temporary advancedtelecommunication service. Because this solution requires humanintervention, however, it is generally impracticable for the multitudeof customers whose temporary advanced telecommunication services requiredeactivation each day.

Another method for initiating the deactivation of a temporary advancedtelecommunication service is through the use of computer timers. In thismethod, a computer timer is begun each time a temporary advancedtelecommunication service is activated. The timer is set to expire atthe termination time requested by the customer. When the timer expires,it directs a computer program to deactivate the temporary advancedtelecommunication service. This approach, however, is akin to setting analarm clock for each temporary advanced telecommunication servicerequested by each customer. Just as it would be difficult to set andturn-off thousands of real alarm clocks every day, it is difficult, ifnot impossible, to manage these individual computer timers for eachcustomer and for each temporary advanced telecommunication service on alarge scale. In fact, even the fastest modern computers would have adifficult time managing timers for thousands of termination times everyday.

Another method for initiating the deactivation of a temporary advancedtelecommunication service is through service package application (SPA)supervision. As described above, service package applications are thecomputer applications responsible for applying temporary advancedtelecommunication services to telephone calls. Using this method, everySPA that implements a temporary advanced telecommunication service isresponsible for storing the termination times for the calling lineswhich have the temporary advanced telecommunication service associatedwith them. For example, the SPA which implements the caller ID temporaryadvanced telecommunication service must retain the termination times forall calling lines which have the caller ID temporary advancedtelecommunication service associated with them.

In the SPA supervision method, when a call is directed to a calling linewhich has a temporary advanced telecommunication service associated withit, the service control point (SCP) computer passes control of the callto the SPA responsible for implementing the temporary advancedtelecommunication service. The SPA then checks the termination time forthe calling line prior to applying the temporary advancedtelecommunication service. If the termination time has expired, the SPAinitiates the deactivation of the temporary advanced telecommunicationservice by updating its expiration information and returns the call tothe SCP for processing without application of the advanced service. Ifthe termination time has not expired, however, the SPA applies thetemporary advanced telecommunication service to the call.

The SPA supervision method is advantageous because it can initiate thedeactivation of a temporary advanced telecommunication service withoutthe use of a timer and without the intervention of a human operator. TheSPA supervision method is disadvantageous, however, because it requireseach SPA to maintain its own termination time information in a separatedatabase. Termination time information is therefore needlesslyduplicated because it is stored in multiple locations.

Accordingly, there is a need for a method and system that provides forthe provision of customer selection and activation of advanced services,delivery of short term or rental of advanced services, andimplementation of such advanced services on short notice in an AdvancedIntelligent Network (AIN).

There is also a need for a method and system that provides for theapplication of one or more advanced services in an AIN to a customer'sdirectory number or calling line without the necessity of the customerhaving a predefined relationship with a telecommunication serviceprovider with respect to the advanced services.

There is an additional need for a method and system that provides forthe application of one or more advanced services in an AIN to acustomer's directory number or calling line without the necessity of aservice representative carrying out administrative tasks with respect tothe customer.

There is yet another need for a method and system that allows an AINelement such as a service control point (SCP) keep track of a callingline number and the service switching point that serves the calling linenumber in a manner other than the query/response exchange relationship.

In addition, there is a need for a method and system that provides forthe entry of information relating to a customer's advanced services in acentralized AIN element in a manner that avoids human intervention by asales/service representative, that is accomplished quickly with fewsteps, and that minimally impedes the implementation of advancedservices for a customer.

Also, there is a need for a method and system that provides for the setup of mechanisms at an SSP to access the entry information relating to acustomer that is stored in a centralized AIN element that avoids humanintervention by a sales/service representative, that is accomplishedquickly with few steps, and that minimally impedes the implementation ofadvanced services for a customer.

There is also a need for a system and method for initiating thedeactivation of a temporary advanced telecommunication service which canbe implemented on a large scale for a multitude of calling lines and amultitude of temporary advanced telecommunication services, which doesnot require the intervention of a human representative or the use ofcomputer timers.

There is an additional need for a system and method for initiating thedeactivation of a temporary advanced telecommunication service whichstores rental information, including termination time information, in asingle location, thereby saving valuable storage space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a caller-activated rental system inthe Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) for temporary advancedtelecommunication services and methods therefor. Through use of anexemplary embodiment, a customer who is interested in obtaining on shortnotice or renting temporary advanced telecommunication services mayinitiate the process for obtaining such advanced services by placing acall to a special access code. The call is routed to a rental serviceinterface through which rental information from the caller may becollected. This rental information may be compiled into a rentalagreement that is used as the basis for activation of the temporaryadvanced telecommunication services with respect to the caller's callingline number.

Advantageously, by this invention, a customer does not have to have apredefined relationship with a service provider in order to obtain suchadvanced services in the AIN but in most cases would. Also by thisinvention, the stumbling blocks to the short term and on short noticeimplementation of advanced services in the AIN have been overcome. Thisinvention provides an effective manner for the entry of information fora customer in a centralized AIN element. This effective manner includesthe creation of a rental agreement based on a customer's selections foradvanced services and storage this rental agreement in a centralized AINelement. No prior entry of information relating to the customer need bestored in this element. Embodiments of this invention further provide aneffective manner in which mechanisms are set up to access the rentalagreement so as to apply the advanced services based on the customer'sselections. This effective manner includes retention of an associationbetween the calling line number and the service switching point (SSP)serving the calling line at an early stage in the processing of thecommunication. This retained association may be used later to access therental agreement in the activation and deactivation of the advancedservice for the calling line number. No longer does a customer have torely on the sales/service representative of a telecommunication serviceprovider to set up and activate, or deactivate, an advanced service inthe AIN. Rather, the customer may place a call whenever the customerdesires to activate or rent a telecommunication service. Advantageously,the caller-activated rental system is easy to use, efficient, and makesgood use of network resources.

Stated more particularly, the present invention includes methods such asthe exemplary method of providing a caller-activated rental system fortemporary advanced telecommunication services. Pursuant to thisexemplary method, in response to receiving a communication directed to aspecial access code from a calling line number, a check may be conductedto determine whether a rental agreement is in place with respect to thecalling line number of the communication. If there is no rentalagreement in place, then an inquiry is made of the communication forrental information regarding advanced service for the calling linenumber. In response to the inquiry, rental information may be receivedand a rental agreement may be created. If there is a rental agreement inplace, then an inquiry may be made of the communication for a change inrental information regarding the advanced service for the calling linenumber. In response to the inquiry, a change in the rental informationor rental agreement may be received and such change entered. Based onthe rental agreement, an activation or a change in the activation of theadvanced service for the calling line number may be made. After makingthe activation or the change in the activation, confirmation thereof maybe provided to the communication.

The present invention also includes systems such as the caller-activatedrental system for temporary advanced telecommunication services in theAIN. Pursuant to this exemplary system, an advanced intelligent network(AIN) element such as a service control point (SCP) or other suchelement carries out several operations. This AIN element is operative tomake a recognition of a communication as a request for an initiation ofan advanced service with respect to a calling line number on the basisof use of a special access code to which the communication is directed.On the basis of the recognition, the AIN element may retain anassociation between the calling line number and a switch serving thecalling line number. This retained association may be used later in theactivation of the temporary advanced telecommunication service for thecalling line number. In response to the recognition of the communicationas a request for an initiation of an advanced service, the AIN elementis operative to direct the collection of rental information regardingthe advanced service for the calling line number. The AIN element isoperative to receive the rental information, and may be operative todirect creation of a rental agreement regarding the advanced service forthe calling line number. Preferably, the rental agreement is based onthe rental information. On the basis of the rental information or therental agreement, the AIN element is operative to direct activation ofthe advanced service for the calling line number. Finally, the AINelement is further operative to provide confirmation to thecommunication of the activation of the advanced service for the callingline number.

Another exemplary system of the present invention includes operationsthat are carried out by a first AIN element such as an SCP and a secondAIN element such as a service circuit node (SCN). Pursuant to thisexemplary system, the first AIN element is operative to make arecognition of a communication as a request for an initiation of anadvanced service with respect to a calling line number on the basis ofuse of a special access code to which the communication is directed. Thefirst AIN element is operative, on the basis of the recognition of thecommunication, to retain an association between the calling line numberand a switch serving the calling line number. The first AIN element isfurther operative to use this association in the activation of theadvanced service for the calling line number. The first AIN element alsois operative to direct collection by a second AIN element from thecommunication of rental information regarding the advanced service forthe calling line number.

In this exemplary system, the second AIN element is functionallyconnected to the first AIN element. The second AIN element is operativeto make the collection from the communication of the rental informationregarding the advanced service for the calling line number. The secondAIN element may be further operative in response to collection of therental information, to prepare a rental agreement regarding the advancedservice for the calling line number. In addition, the second AIN elementmay be operative to provide the first AIN element with the rentalagreement instead of the rental information. The second AIN element alsois operative to provide the rental information to the first AIN element.

In this exemplary system, in response to receipt of the rentalinformation, the first AIN element is further operative to make anactivation of the advanced service for the calling line number. Thefirst AIN element is further operative to provide confirmation to thesecond AIN element of the activation of the advanced service for thecalling line number. The second AIN element then is further operative toreceive the confirmation from the first AIN element of the activation ofthe advanced service for the calling line number and to provide theconfirmation to the communication.

The present invention includes another system that includes AIN elementssuch as a service switching point (SSP), an SCP and an SCN. Pursuant tothis exemplary system, the SSP is operative to receive a communicationdirected to a special access code from a calling line number. On thebasis of the special access code, the SSP is operative to pause in theprocessing of the communication and to request instructions regardingthe communication from the SCP. The SCP is functionally connected to theSSP, and is operative to retain an association between the calling linenumber of the communication and the SSP. The SCP also is operative tomake a recognition that the communication is to be routed to a SCN. Inresponse to the recognition, the SCP is operative to provide theinstructions to the SSP to route the communication to the SCN. Theswitch then is operative, in response to receipt of the instructions, toroute the communication to the SCN.

In this exemplary system, the SCN is functionally connected to the SSPand to the SCP. The SCN is operative, in response to receipt of thecommunication, to make a request for processing instructions from theSCP. The SCP is further operative, in response to the request, toprovide the SCN with the processing instructions. The processinginstructions include a direction to the SCN to make a collection fromthe communication of rental information regarding an advanced servicefor the calling line number. The SCN may be further operative, inresponse to the processing instructions, to make the collection from thecommunication of rental information. In response to the collection ofthe rental information, the SCN is operative to prepare a rentalagreement regarding the advanced service for the calling line number.The SCN then may provide either the rental information or the rentalagreement to the SCP. The SCP is further operative to receive the rentalagreement or the rental information. On the basis of the rentalagreement or the rental information, the SCP is operative to provide theSSP with activation instructions. The activation instructions include anorder to the SSP to make an activation of the advanced service for thecalling line number. The SSP then is operative, in response to theactivation instructions, to make the activation of the advanced servicefor the calling line number. After activation, the SCP may be furtheroperative to provide confirmation to the SCN of the activation of theadvanced service for the calling line number. The SCN is furtheroperative to receive the confirmation from the SCP of the activation ofthe advanced service for the calling line number and to provide theconfirmation to the communication.

The present invention includes yet another system with respect tokeeping track of a calling line number and its serving SSP. Pursuant tothis exemplary system, an AIN such as an SCP is operative to receiveinformation from a SSP. The information relates to a communicationreceived at the SSP and the communication having a calling line numberthat is served by the SSP. On the basis of the information, the AINelement is operative to make a recognition of the communication asindicating a request for a service such as an advanced service.Alternatively, the AIN element may make the recognition of thecommunication as indicating the request for the service on the basis ofuse of a special access code in association with the communication. Onthe basis of the recognition, the AIN element is operative to retain anassociation between the calling line number and the SSP serving thecalling line number. The AIN element is further operative to retain theassociation between the calling line number and the SSP serving thecalling line number for a predetermined length of time. The AIN elementis further operative, after expiration of the predetermined length oftime, to erase the association between the calling line number and theSSP serving the calling line number. Through use of this exemplarysystem, the association between the calling line number and the SSP maybe used in the provision of the service.

The present invention is also directed to a system and method forinitiating the deactivation of a temporary advanced telecommunicationsservice in the AIN which has been activated based upon a rentalagreement relating to a calling line. The rental agreement describedabove may include a termination time for the temporary advancedtelecommunication service for the calling line. An event, such as acommunication directed to the calling line, causes a check of the rentalagreement relating to the calling line to be made. If the terminationtime for the temporary advanced telecommunication service for thecalling line contained in the rental agreement has expired, thetemporary advanced telecommunication service with respect to the callingline is deactivated.

The present invention is advantageous because it initiates thedeactivation of a temporary advanced telecommunication service withoutthe need for the intervention of a human representative and without theuse of computer timers. The present invention may be advantageouslyimplemented on a large scale for a multitude of subscribers and amultitude of services.

Stated more particularly, an aspect of the present invention includesmethods such as the exemplary method for initiating the deactivation ofa temporary advanced telecommunication service. Pursuant to thisexemplary method, an activation of a temporary advancedtelecommunication service has been made based upon a rental agreementrelating to a calling line. The rental agreement includes a terminationtime for the temporary advanced telecommunication service for thecalling line. An event causes a check to be made of the rental agreementrelating to the calling line to determine whether the termination timehas expired. If the termination time has expired, the temporary advancedtelecommunication service for the calling line is deactivated.

In a preferred embodiment of the exemplary method, the event whichcauses the check to be made of the rental agreement is a communicationdirected to the calling line. In this manner, each communicationdirected to a calling line initiates a check of the rental agreementrelating to the calling line to determine whether the termination timehas expired. If the termination time has expired, the temporary advancedtelecommunication service relating to the calling line is deactivated.

The rental agreement may comprise a rental record containing thetermination time for the temporary advance telecommunication service forthe calling line. The rental record, therefore, may be checked todetermine if the termination time has expired for the temporary advancedtelecommunications service for the calling line. If the termination timehas expired, the temporary advanced telecommunication service isdeactivated by deleting the rental record associated with the callingline.

The temporary advanced telecommunication service may be activated bysetting a trigger to cause a check of the rental agreement in responseto receipt of a communication directed to the calling line. Thetemporary advanced telecommunication service may then be deactivated byreleasing the trigger so as to avoid another check of the rentalagreement after the expiration of the termination time.

The event which causes the check of the rental agreement may be adeadwood inquiry. A deadwood inquiry is a timed event used to initiatethe deactivation of temporary advanced telecommunication services forwhich the termination time has expired, but for which no other event,like a communication directed to the calling line, has initiated thedeactivation. In this manner, expired rental agreements may be deleted.

In yet another embodiment of the exemplary method, a plurality oftemporary advanced telecommunications services may be associated with acalling line and may be deactivated individually at differenttermination times. In this embodiment, a plurality of temporary advancedtelecommunication services are activated based upon a rental agreementrelating to the calling line. The rental agreement includes atermination time for each of the temporary advanced telecommunicationservices. An event, such as a deadwood inquiry or a communicationdirected to the calling line, causes a check to be made of the rentalagreement to determine whether the termination time has expired for eachof the temporary advanced telecommunication services associated with thecalling line. Those temporary advanced telecommunications services forwhich the termination time has expired are deactivated.

In this embodiment, the rental agreement may comprise rental recordswith a termination time for each of the temporary advancedtelecommunication services for the calling line. Each of the rentalrecords may be checked to determine if the termination time has expiredfor each of the temporary advanced telecommunications services. Forthose termination times which have expired, the associated temporaryadvanced telecommunication services are deactivated by deleting theassociated rental record from the rental agreement.

As with the previous embodiment, a trigger may be set to cause a checkof the rental agreement to be made in response to receipt of acommunication directed to the calling line. If a check is made of therental agreement which determines that the termination time for any ofthe temporary advanced telecommunication services has expired, theassociated rental record is deleted from the rental agreement.Additionally, a check is made of the rental agreement to determine if itcontains any rental records. If the rental agreement contains no rentalrecords, the calling line no longer has temporary advancedtelecommunication services associated with it, and the trigger isreleased so that the rental agreement will not be checked when the nextcommunication is directed to the calling line.

The present invention also includes systems such as the exemplary systemfor initiating the deactivation of temporary advanced telecommunicationsservices where an activation of a temporary advanced telecommunicationservice has previously been made based upon a rental agreement relatingto the calling line. The rental agreement contains a termination timefor the temporary advanced telecommunication service for the callingline. Pursuant to this exemplary system, an advanced intelligent network(AIN) element carries out several operations. This AIN element takesnotice of an event, such as a communication directed to a calling lineor a deadwood inquiry. On the basis of taking notice of the event, thisAIN element makes a check of the rental agreement relating to thecalling line to determine whether the termination time has expired forthe temporary advanced telecommunication service associated with thecalling line. If the termination time has expired, this AIN elementmakes a deactivation of the temporary advanced telecommunicationservice.

In this exemplary system, the rental agreement may comprise a rentalrecord including the termination time for the temporary advancedtelecommunication service for the calling line. The AIN element may thendeactivate the temporary advanced telecommunication service with respectto the calling line by deleting the rental record from the rentalagreement.

The activation of the temporary advanced telecommunication service inthis exemplary system may comprise setting a trigger in a second AINelement functionally connected to the first AIN element to cause a checkof the rental agreement in response to receipt of a communicationdirected to the calling line. Deactivation of the temporary advancedtelecommunication service may then comprise releasing the trigger in thesecond AIN element so as to avoid any further checks of the rentalagreement.

In this exemplary system, the second AIN element may comprise a serviceswitching point (SSP) serving the calling line. Activation of thetemporary advanced telecommunication service may comprise setting atrigger in the SSP to cause an event to occur in response to the receiptof a communication directed to the calling line. In this manner, thereceipt of a communication directed to a calling line for which atrigger is set in the SSP causes an event to occur. The first AINelement takes notice of the event and checks the rental agreementrelating to the calling line. If the termination time has expired, thefirst AIN element then deactivates the temporary advancedtelecommunication service for the calling line.

The rental agreement used in this exemplary system may also comprise anassociation between the calling line and a service switching pointserving the calling line. This association is retained when the rentalagreement is initially set up and may be used to deactivate thetemporary advanced telecommunication service for the calling line. Forexample, the first AIN element may use the association between thecalling line and an SSP serving the calling line to provide instructionsto the SSP to release the trigger associated with the calling line sothat no further check of the rental agreement is made.

In another exemplary system for initiating the deactivation of atemporary advanced telecommunication service, operations are performedby a service control point (SCP) computer and an SSP. The SCP maintainsa rental agreement which contains a rental record including thetermination time for a temporary advanced telecommunication serviceassociated with the calling line and an association between a callingline and the SSP serving the calling line. The SCP activates thetemporary advanced telecommunication service for the calling line byproviding instructions to the SSP to set a trigger for the calling line.

The SSP sets the trigger for the calling line as requested by the SCP.Once the trigger is set, a communication directed to the calling linewill be recognized by the SSP as requiring additional processinginstructions. Therefore, the SSP will request further processinginstructions from the SCP.

The SCP recognizes the SSP's request for further processing instructionsand checks the rental agreement to determine whether the terminationtime has expired for the temporary advanced telecommunication serviceassociated with the calling line. If the SCP determines the terminationtime has expired, it uses the association between the SSP and thecalling line contained in the rental agreement to provide instructionsto the SSP to release the trigger for the calling line. The SCP alsodeletes the rental agreement. In this manner, each communication to acalling line which has a temporary advanced telecommunication serviceassociated with it causes a check to be made of the rental agreement inthe SCP for the calling line. If the termination time has expired, thetrigger in the SSP is released, the rental agreement is deleted, and thecommunication is processed without application of the temporary advancedtelecommunication service.

The present invention is disclosed in the context of exemplaryembodiments that include caller-activated rental systems for temporaryadvanced telecommunication services and methods therefor. Those skilledin the art will appreciate that the principles of the present inventionmay be applied to virtually any type of telecommunication network whichincorporates distributed call processing control.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide acaller-activated rental system for temporary advanced telecommunicationservices in an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) and methods therefor.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method andsystem that allows for the application of one or more advancedtelecommunication services in an AIN to a customer's calling line numberon short notice and for a short term rental.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a methodand system for the application of one or more advanced services in anAIN to a customer's calling line without the necessity of the customerhaving a predefined relationship with a telecommunication serviceprovider with respect to the advanced service.

It is further an object of the present invention to provide for a methodand system that allows for the application of one or more advancedservices in an AIN to a customer's calling line number through a callfrom a caller on the customer's calling line.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide amethod and system that allows for the application of one or moreadvanced services in an AIN to a customer's calling line without thenecessity of a sales/service representative carrying administrativetasks with respect to such set-up for a customer.

Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a methodand system that allows an AIN element to keep track of a calling linenumber and its serving SSP by creating an association between a callingline number and the SSP when a communication is recognized as indicatinga request for an advanced service.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide amethod and system that provides for the entry of information relating toa customer's advanced services in a centralized AIN element in a mannerthat avoids human intervention by a sales/service representative, thatis accomplished quickly with few steps, and that minimally impedes theimplementation of advanced services for a customer.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method andsystem that provides for the set up of mechanisms in an AIN to accessthe entry of information relating to a customer that is stored in acentralized AIN element and that avoids human intervention by asales/service representative, that is accomplished quickly with fewsteps, and that minimally impedes the implementation of advancedservices for a customer.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a methodand system for initiating the deactivation of a temporary advancedtelecommunication service which can be implemented on a large scale fora multitude of subscribers and a multitude of temporary advancedtelecommunication services, which does not require the intervention of ahuman service representative or the use of computer timers.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide amethod and system for initiating the deactivation of temporary advancedtelecommunications services which stores rental agreements, includingtermination times, in a single location, thereby saving valuable storagespace.

That the present invention and the exemplary embodiments thereofovercome the problems and drawbacks set forth above and accomplish theobjects of the invention set forth herein will become apparent from thedetailed description of exemplary embodiments which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the steps in bringing about apredefined relationship between a customer and a service provider in theAIN.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of operationof the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an exemplary embodiment and exemplary environmentfor operation of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a timing/block diagram illustrating an exemplary method ofoperation of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of operationof an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a second exemplary method ofoperation of an aspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed to a caller-activated rental system inthe Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) for temporary advancedtelecommunication services and methods therefor. The particularembodiments described herein are intended in all respects to beillustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art to which the presentinvention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope.

This detailed description first provides an overview of an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention by reference to the flow diagram ofFIG. 2. The overview is followed by a description of exemplaryprovisioning of the present invention in the exemplary environment. Inother words, the exemplary provisioning description provides anexplanation of the set-up of an exemplary embodiment through thepreferred provisioning of a service switching point (SSP) with publicoffice feature code (POFC) triggers and termination attempt (TAT)triggers. After this exemplary provisioning description, a descriptionof an exemplary operation of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention in connection with the exemplary environment illustrated inFIG. 4. This description of exemplary operation includes examplesillustrating a customer renting an advanced service, a customerinitiating the termination of the rental of an advanced service, andtermination of an advanced service based on expiration of a rentalagreement. A description is then given of an exemplary method and systemfor initiating the deactivation of temporary advanced telecommunicationsservices in the AIN by reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. Throughout thedrawings, like numerals indicate like elements.

Overview of an Exemplary Embodiment

Generally, the present invention provides a caller-activated rentalsystem in an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) for temporary advancedtelecommunication services and methods therefor. A “temporary advancedtelecommunication service” is also referred to as an advance serviceherein.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method 10 ofoperation of the present invention. After the start step 11, in step 12a special access code and a calling line number are received inconnection with a communication. Generally, the communication isdirected to the special access code and is placed on a calling lineassociated with the calling line number. By direction of thecommunication to the special access code, the caller has provided anindication of a request for an advanced service. This advanced servicemay include a temporary advanced telecommunication service with respectto the calling line or calling line number associated with thecommunication. As used herein, the term “calling line” is usedsynonymously with the term “calling line number” unless a distinction isnoted. For example, a customer, who is interested in receiving callforwarding service while he or she is on vacation, places a call to aspecial access code by using the telephone associated with the callingline number to which the call forwarding service is to be applied.

In step 13 of FIG. 2, a check is made to determine whether a rentalagreement is in place with respect to the calling line number of thecommunication. For example, the customer may have already established arental agreement for temporary advanced telecommunication services andmay be calling to renew or revise the rental agreement. If the rentalagreement is in place, then in step 14 the additional rental informationor change in the rental information is received and an addition orchange is made to the rental agreement. On the other hand, if the rentalagreement is not in place, then in step 15 rental information isreceived and a rental agreement is prepared. For example, the customermay be a first time user of this caller-activated rental system fortemporary advanced telecommunication services.

After step 14 of making an addition or change to a rental agreement orafter step 15 of preparing a rental agreement, in step 16 the rentalservice is activated based on the rental agreement. For example, atrigger may be provisioned in the customer's service switching point(SSP) such that calls to the customer's calling line number areforwarded while the customer is on vacation. In step 17, the activationof the rental service is confirmed. For example, the customer mayreceive an announcement that the call forwarding service has been set upso that the customer's calls are forwarded while the customer is onvacation. After this confirmation, the exemplary method ends in step 18.

Advantageously, the exemplary method allows a customer to rent selectedadvanced telecommunication services (“rental service”) on short noticeand for the short term. Further, the exemplary method allows thecustomer to activate the rental service with a minimum of time andeffort and minimum interaction with a telecommunication serviceprovider. Additional advantages of the present invention are discussedbelow.

Exemplary Operation of an Exemplary Embodiment in an ExemplaryEnvironment

Overview of AIN Elements

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an exemplary embodiment and exemplary environmentfor operation of the present invention. Connected to the public switchedtelecommunication network (PSTN) 20 an exemplary environment is anAdvanced Intelligent Network (AIN) 21. For brevity, only a basicexplanation of the AIN 21 is provided herein. Where the AIN 21 operatesor is composed differently in an important aspect from that which wouldbe understood by those skilled in the art, additional details areprovided herein. For further information regarding the referenced AIN 21and aspects thereof, the interested reader is referred to the patent toWeisser, U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,719, which is incorporated herein byreference.

The AIN 21 includes a variety of interconnected network elements. Agroup of such network elements includes the plurality of central officeswhich are indicated as service switching points (SSPs) 22 a, 22 b inFIG. 2. An SSP typically includes switch functionality, but alsoincludes other functionality so as to communicate with other AINelements as those skilled in the art understand. As further illustratedin FIG. 3, the SSPs 22 a, 22 b have a plurality of subscriber linesconnected thereto. A subscriber line may also be referred to as acalling line. Each SSP serves a designated group of calling lines, andthus, the SSP that serves a particular calling line may be referred toas its serving SSP. Each calling line is connected typically to a pieceof terminating equipment including a plurality of telephones commonlyreferenced as 24 and individually referenced as 24 a, 24 b, 24 c and 24d. Although telephones are illustrated as the pieces of terminatingequipment in FIG. 3, those skilled in the art will understand that suchpieces include other telecommunication devices such as facsimilemachines, computers, modems, etc.

Pursuant to the preferred embodiment, each active calling line in an AINis assigned a ten digit calling line number. In the description of thepresent invention, the term “calling line number” is used in itsgenerally understood meaning to be the number which is dialed or inputby a caller or source to reach a piece of terminating equipment on acalling line associated with the dialed calling line number. A callingline number is commonly referred to as a telephone number or a directorynumber.

Referring again to FIG. 3, SSPs 22 a, 22 b are interconnected by aplurality of trunk circuits 23. These are the voice path trunks thatinterconnect the SSPs to connect communications. The term“communication” or “call” is used herein to include all messages thatmay be exchanged between caller and called party in the networkillustrated in FIG. 3.

Each of the SSPs 22 a, 22 b is connected to another type of AIN elementreferred to as a local signal transfer point (STP) 26 via respectivedata links. Currently, these are data links employing a signalingprotocol referred to as Signaling System 7 (SS7), which is well known tothose skilled in the art. Much of the intelligence of the AIN resides inyet another type of AIN element referred to as a local service controlpoint (SCP) 27 that is connected to STP 26 over a SS7 data link. Amongthe functions performed by the SCP 27 is the maintenance of networkdatabases and subscriber databases as represented collectively bydatabases 30. These databases may be used in providing temporaryadvanced telecommunication services to a customer. Typically, the SCP 27is also the repository of service package applications (SPAs) that areused in connection with or as part of the databases 30 in theapplication of advanced telecommunication services or enhanced featuresto calling lines.

As used herein, the phrase “advanced telecommunication services” refersto features or enhancements that are provided by a telecommunicationservice provider to a customer in addition to conventional telephoneservice through the PSTN. Further, the phrase “temporary advancedtelecommunication services” refers to telecommunication services thatmay be “rented” to a customer for a limited time such as in connectionwith the present invention. In contrast, a telecommunication service towhich a customer subscribes in a conventional manner (rather than“rents”) is typically subscribed to on an open ended basis so long asthe customer pays for the service. Examples of temporary advancedtelecommunication services include flexible call forwarding service,network voice mail service, and calling name delivery.

Referring again to FIG. 3, the local STP 26 may be connected to othernetwork elements through a regional STP 32, which in turn, may beconnected to a regional SCP 34. Both regional SCP 34 and local SCP 27are connected via respective data links to a service management system(SMS) 35. The SMS 35 interfaces to business offices of the localexchange carrier and interexchange carriers.

In order to keep the processing of data and calls as simple as possible,a relatively small set of triggers is defined at the SSPs for each call.A trigger in the AIN is an event associated with a particular callingline that generates a packet to be sent to an SCP. The trigger causesthe SCP to query its databases or service package applications forprocessing instructions with respect to the particular call. The resultsare sent back to the SSP in a response from the SCP 27 through STP 26.The return packet includes instructions to the SSP as to how to processthe call. The instructions may be to take some special action as aresult of a customized calling service or enhanced feature. In response,the SSP moves through its call states, collects the called digits, andgenerates further packets that are used to set up and route the call.Similar devices for routing calls among various local exchange carriersare provided by regional STP 32 and regional SCP 34.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the AIN 21 also includes a service circuitnode 36 (SCN), which may also be referred to herein as a service node(SN). SCN 36 includes voice and dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signalrecognition devices and voice synthesis devices. In addition, SCN 36 mayinclude a rental service interface 38 for use in connection with thepresent invention as is explained further below. SCN 36 is connected tothe local SCP 27 via data link 39 using an X.25 protocol and to the SMS35 via a data link. In addition, SCN 36 typically is connected to one ormore (but usually only a few) SSPs via Integrated Service DigitalNetwork (ISDN) links as shown by the connection to SSP 22 b.

Exemplary Provisioning of the Present Invention in the ExemplaryEnvironment

As explained above, a customer initiates a request for a temporaryadvanced telecommunication service by placing a call from a deviceassociated with the calling line number to which the service is to beapplied. In addition, the customer places the call to a special accesscode to indicate the request for the advanced service. To accommodatethese requests for advanced services, an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention provides for the recognition of two types of triggersat each of the service switching points (SSPs) that are used inconnection with the exemplary embodiment. With respect to the first typeof trigger, each of the calling lines that may be used to requestadvanced services at a particular SSP are provisioned with a specialaccess code trigger which may also be referred to as a feature accesscode trigger. Preferably, this trigger is a public office feature codetrigger (POFC) that responds to a feature access code comprising anasterisk followed by two digits, to-wit: *XX. Thus, a customer dials thefeature access code (*XX) which triggers the SSP based on therecognition of the feature access code as a POFC trigger to initiate aquery/response exchange with the SCP. Additional details regarding thisPOFC trigger are provided below in connection with FIG. 4.

With respect to the second type of trigger, each of the calling linesthat may be used to request advanced services at a particular SSP areprovisioned with a termination attempt trigger (TAT) in an idle state.As is explained in further detail below in connection with FIG. 4, whenan advanced service is to be applied to a calling line, then the SCPprovides the appropriate SSP with an instruction to change the state ofthe TAT trigger for that calling line from the idle state to an activestate. The effect of a TAT trigger on a calling line in the active statewill be understood to those skilled in the art as causing a pause at theSSP serving the calling line in the processing of any communicationreceived on or directed to the calling line number. The SSP pauses so asto query the SCP and receive a response with instructions as to furtherprocessing of the communication. In this manner, the SSP obtains theinstructions for applying the advanced service to the communication.When the advanced service is to be removed from the calling line, thenthe SCP provides the appropriate SSP with an instruction to change thestate of the TAT trigger for that calling line from the active state tothe idle state. In the idle state, the TAT trigger does not cause apause in the processing of a communication received on or directed tothe calling line number.

The clever reader may question why the TAT trigger for each of thecalling lines that may be used to request advanced services at aparticular SSP are provisioned with a TAT trigger in the idle staterather than in the active state. The clever reader understands that thepause in the processing of a communication on or directed to a callingline number having an active TAT trigger is minimal and hardly noticedby the caller. With every TAT trigger active, then every communicationthat is received on or directed to a calling line number that may beused to request advanced services could be checked for the applicationof advanced services. Admittedly, this approach may be taken withrespect to the implementation of the present invention. Butadvantageously, this exemplary embodiment of the present inventionavoids such costly use of AIN resources. This exemplary embodimentprovides for a change in the state of the TAT trigger from idle toactive when advanced services are to be applied to a particular callingline number. In this manner, only the communications to which advancedservices are to be applied are paused in their processing. The othercommunications are not delayed, overhead is not wasted in fruitlessquery/response exchanges, and useless steps are not undertaken.

Exemplary Operation

Rental of an Advanced Service

FIG. 4 is a timing/block diagram illustrating an exemplary method andsystem of operation of the present invention. This exemplary method andsystem are described in the context of a customer making use of therental system to obtain a temporary advanced telecommunication service.Assume the customer (“Dale”) is using his telephone 24 a which isconnected by calling line 25 a to SSP 22 a. In other words, SSP 22 aserves Dale's calling line 25 a. As explained in the exemplaryprovisioning description above, SSP 22 a is provisioned such that itinitiates a query/response exchange with SCP 27 on receipt of a specialaccess code based on a public office feature code (POFC) trigger. Inaddition, Dale's calling line 25 a is provisioned with a terminationattempt trigger (TAT) in the idle state.

Also assume that Dale is interested in obtaining advanced callforwarding service with respect to the calling line number associatedwith his telephone 24 a and calling line 25 a, but only for the timethat Dale is on vacation. As a result of the temporary nature inapplication of the advanced call forwarding service to Dale's callingline, Dale may be considered to be “renting” the service. As a firststep in renting the service, Dale places a call from his telephone 24 aand calling line 25 a by using a feature access code such as *XX. Where“XX” may be any set of numbers that may be dialed from atelecommunication device. As noted, an exemplary embodiment provides forthe use of *XX based on the provisioning of the appropriate SSPs with aPOFC trigger.

Referring to FIG. 4, as indicated by arrow 42, the feature access codeis received with the communication in the SSP 22 a serving Dale'scalling line 25, and is recognized by the SSP 22 a as an indicator ofthe special status of the communication. The solid line in arrow 42 andother arrows indicates that the communication is carried over voicelinks rather than data links. The special access code triggers the SSP22 a to pause in the processing of the call and to obtain furtherinstructions from other network elements. Referring to the example,Dale's call to the feature access code is received in SSP 22 a, whichpauses in the processing of the communication to request instructionsfrom SCP 27. As indicated by arrow 44, this request preferably takes theform of a query from SSP 22 a to SCP 27. The dashed line in arrow 44 andother arrows indicates that the medium is a data link rather than avoice link and that the information exchange is a data exchange.

As part of the SSP's query to the SCP 27 for processing instructions,the SSP 22 a provides the SCP 27 with information relating to thecommunication. This information may be provided in a TCAP messagepursuant to the SS7 protocol. In particular, the SSP 22 a provides theSCP 27 with communication information including the feature access codeand the calling line number. In addition, the SSP 22 a provides the SCP27 with identification information. This identification informationincludes an originating point code (OPC) or other identifier asappropriate.

In response to receiving the communication information and theidentification information from the SSP 22 a, the SCP 27 carries outcertain functions. The SCP 27 looks up the meaning of the feature accesscode and this may be accomplished by looking up the code through use ofa service package application (SPA). Upon look up, the SCP 27 determinesthat the communication is an indicates the customer desires to accessthe rental system with respect to the rental or other implementation ofan advanced service. Based on this determination, the SCP furtherdetermines that the communication is to be routed to the service circuitnode (SCN) 36. Thus, as indicated by arrow 46, the SCP 27 provides aresponse with instructions to the SSP 22 a to route the communication tothe SCN 36.

As noted, the SCP 27 recognizes the feature access code as indicativethat the communication is a request for a special service. On the basisof this recognition, the SCP 27 retains an association between thecalling line or calling line number of the communication and the SSP 22a which originated the query to the SCP 27. The SCP 27 may retain thisassociation in database 30 or some other appropriate storage medium.Preferably, the SCP retains the originating point code (OPC) associatedwith this communication in a database 30. This may be a database that isshared by service package applications (SPAs) that are associated withSCP 27. The retention of this OPC may be accomplished through the use ofan SPA that is referred to herein as “SPA #1”. Advantageously, thepresent invention preferably provides that the SCP 27 retain theassociation between the calling line number and the SSP 22 a at thispoint in the processing of the communication. Retaining this associationat this point in the call processing is advantageous because the SCP 27otherwise does not have any information with respect to the relationshipbetween an SSP and the calling lines or calling line numbers that theSSP serves. As is explained below, later in the processing of thecaller's rental agreement, the SCP 27 may have to take steps to changethe status in the TAT trigger for Dale's calling line 25 a from idle toactive so as to apply advanced call forwarding services to the callingline 25 a. So, it is an advantage that the SCP 27 have a method orsystem for keeping track of the association between a calling linenumber and its serving SSP. This exemplary embodiment may furtherprovide that the SCP 27 retain the association between the calling linenumber and its serving SSP for a predetermined length of time. Afterexpiration of the predetermined length of time, this association may beerased.

Referring once more to FIG. 4, as indicated by arrow 48, upon receipt ofthe processing instructions from the SCP 27, the SSP 22 a routes thecommunication over voice links in a conventional manner to the SCN 36.Upon receipt of the communication from the SSP 22 a, the SCN 36recognizes on the basis of the special access code that thecommunication is a request for special service such as access to therental system for rental of advanced services. The SCN 36 may make thisrecognition by checking an appropriate table or database or through theuse of a service package application (SPA) that is referred to herein as“SPA #2”. Thus, as indicated by arrow 50, the SCN 36 pauses in theprocessing of the communication to query the SCP 27. The SCN 36 providesthe SCP 27 with communication information including the special accesscode. In addition, this query may include a request to the SCP 27 tocheck whether a rental agreement is in place with respect to thiscustomer, calling line or calling line number. Additional detailsregarding a rental agreement are discussed below. The SCP 27, inresponse to the query, makes a recognition of the communication as arequest for a special service such as a request for rental of anadvanced service. This recognition may be accomplished through the useof other tables or databases as those skilled in the art willunderstand. This recognition also may be accomplished through the use ofan SPA that is referred to herein as “SPA #3”. As part of thisrecognition, the SCP 27 may use SPA #3 to check whether a rentalagreement is in place with respect to this customer, calling line orcalling line number.

Referring still to FIG. 4, as indicated by arrow 52, on the basis of therecognition of the communication as a request for a special service, theSCP 27 provides the SCN 36, and preferably SPA #2, with processinginstructions. These instructions include a direction to the SCN 36 tomake an inquiry for or a collection from the communication of rentalinformation regarding temporary advanced telecommunication services forthe calling line number. In other words, the SCP 27 instructs the SCN 36to obtain information from the caller about the temporary advancedtelecommunication services the caller may be interested in renting andthe terms therefor. These instructions may include a report to the SCN36 that a rental agreement is already in place with respect to thiscustomer, calling line or calling line number. In that case, the SCP 27recognizes the communication as a request for a change to the rentalagreement. Thus, the SCP 27 instructs the SCN 36 to obtain informationfrom the caller about the changes to the temporary advancedtelecommunication services the caller may be interested in and the termstherefor.

Referring again to FIG. 4, as indicated by arrow 54, in response to theinstructions from the SCP 27 to collect the rental information orchanges thereto, the SCN 36 proceeds with making an inquiry of thecommunication for rental information or changes thereto regarding thetemporary advanced telecommunication service for the calling linenumber. The double head on arrow 54 indicates that an informationexchange takes place between the caller 24 a and the SCN 36. Referringto the example, the SCN 36 may use the rental service interface 38 (alsoreferred to as SPA #2) to ask questions of Dale and/or to provide Dalewith information such as service options. The rental service interface38 may provide an audio interaction, dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF)interaction, a data interaction or a video interaction with the caller.The rental service interface 38 may make the inquiry and take theresponses in a menu-type format. The rental service interface 38 alsomay be used to collect and compile the rental information or changesthereto that are collected from the caller. The rental information orchanges thereto that are collected may vary depending on the temporaryadvanced telecommunication service that is desired to be rented by thecaller. For example, the rental information collected for advanced callforwarding service may differ from the rental information collected foradvanced three-way calling service based on the different nature ofthese services. By way of analogy, the rental service interface 38 (andthe SCN 36) may be thought of as rental agent in this rental transactionwith the customer, Dale, being interested in short term rental ofadvanced call forwarding services.

To further the analogy, the collected and compiled information may bereferred to as a rental agreement because the information generallyincludes the terms regarding application of the temporary advancedtelecommunication services to the calling line number. Further, therental agreement may provide that the rental information be compiledpursuant to a selected format or protocol. Thus, the rental agreementmay include information as to the type of temporary advancedtelecommunication services that are to be provided, the time limits forapplication of the services to the calling line number, etc. and thisinformation may be formatted into a selected protocol or arrangement.For example, Dale may provide information that is collected as rentalinformation and that is incorporated into the rental agreement. Thisrental agreement may specify that Dale desires advanced call forwardingservice to be applied to his calling line number only while he is onvacation.

Referring to FIG. 4, as indicated by arrow 56, after collection, therental information and/or the rental agreement (or changes thereto) areprovided by the SCN 36 to the SCP 27, and preferably to SPA #3. Asappropriate, the rental service interface 38 may be used to convert therental information and/or the rental agreement (or changes thereto) fromthe format that is used to interact with the caller to the format thatis most appropriate for transmission to and use by the SCP 27 such asthe X.25 protocol.

Upon receipt of the rental information and/or the rental agreement (orchanges thereto) from the SCN 36, the SCP 27 may make a determination asto whether the telecommunication service requested or change requestedby the caller is available. This determination may be made on the basisof the information in the rental information and/or the rentalagreement. In addition, this determination may be made through the useof SPA #3 or the databases 30 that are maintained by the SCP 27. The SCP27 is particularly well situated to make this type of determinationbecause the SCP 27 typically includes service package applications(SPAs) that are used by a telecommunications network to implementservices or enhanced features. For example, the SCP 27 may check theappropriate SPA and the resources of the network to determine whetheradvanced call forwarding services may be applied to Dale's calling linenumber while he is on vacation. This determination step is an advantageof the present invention because it provides dynamic evaluation of theavailable resources of the service provider and the network and providesthe caller with a response based on this evaluation. In other words, ifthe resources are unavailable with respect to a caller's request, thecaller is not left in limbo. Rather, the caller may be informed of thisunavailability. On the other hand, if the resources are available, thenthe caller may be provided with assurances that the temporary advancedtelecommunication service is available.

Even though our example included only a request for a single temporaryadvanced telecommunication service, it should be understood that acaller may request that multiple temporary advanced telecommunicationservices be applied to his or her calling line number. In that case, therental information and/or rental agreement includes information withrespect to these multiple services. The SCP 27 checks with theappropriate SPAs and network resources as to whether any or all of therequested services may be applied to the caller's calling line number.Advantageously, the caller does not have to use a piecemeal approachwith respect to the rental of services. Preferably, information from thecaller is collected and consolidated through use of the rental serviceinterface 38 in the SCN 36 in rental information or a rental agreement.This collected information in the form of the rental information or therental agreement is used in a unified fashion. Thus, the presentinvention provides a “gateway” for the caller to a whole host oftelecommunication services.

After the SCP 27 makes a determination that the temporary advancedtelecommunication service requested by the caller as indicated in therental information and/or rental agreement is available, then on thebasis of the rental information or the rental agreement, the SCP 27 andpreferably SPA #3 takes steps to make an activation of the service forthe calling line number. In other words, the SCP 27 takes steps to applythe service. As noted in the background, prior to this invention, therewas no correlative information stored in the SCP 27 so as to keep trackof which SSPs serve which calling lines. Prior to this invention, itwould have been impossible for the SCP 27 to take steps to provideinstructions with respect to the activation of an advanced service withrespect to a particular calling line because the SCP 27 would not havehad information as to where to provide the instructions.

Advantageously, an exemplary embodiment of the present inventionprovides a mechanism whereby the SCP 27 may provide activationinstructions to the appropriate SSP. As explained above, when an SSP 22a initially receives a communication directed to the special accesscode, the SSP 22 a pauses in the processing of the communication andinitiates a query/response exchange with the SCP 27. As part of thequery, the SSP 22 a provides the SCP 27 with identification information.The SCP 27 retains an association between the calling line or callingline number of the communication and the SSP 22 a which originated thequery to the SCP 27. Preferably, the SCP retains the originating pointcode (OPC) associated with this communication in a database 30 that maybe accessed by the SPAs of the SCP 27. Thus, at this point in theprocessing of the rental agreement for the customer, the SCP 27 mayaccess this identification information, and in particular, may accessthe OPC to determine where to send the activation instructions.Referring to FIG. 4, as indicated by arrow 58, the SCP 27 providesactivation instructions to SSP 22 a as the SSP that serves the callingline number associated with the communication. In this exemplaryembodiment, these activation instructions include a directive to SSP 22a to change the status of the termination attempt trigger (TAT) on thecalling line associated with the communication from the idle state tothe active state. The effect of the TAT trigger on the calling line inthe active state causes a pause at the SSP 22 a serving the calling linein the processing of any communication received on or directed to thecalling line number. The SSP 22 a pauses so as to query the SCP 27 andreceive a response with instructions as to further processing of thecommunication. In this manner, the SSP 22 a obtains the instructions forapplying the advanced service to the communication. As indicated byarrow 60, the SSP 22 a preferably provides confirmation of theactivation of the TAT (or other activation) to the SCP 27. Although theterm “activation” implies immediacy, those skilled in the art willunderstand that the activation instructions (including the change instatus of the TAT from idle to active) may provide that such activationtake place at a later time.

Preferably, the SCP 26 and in particular SPA #3 retains the rentalinformation or rental agreement for a predetermined length of time. Byretaining the rental information or rental agreement, the SCP 26 hasthis material available in case another call for temporarytelecommunication service is placed by the caller during thepredetermined length of time. For example, Dale may decide to extend hisvacation. Assuming that Dale is vacation at or near his calling line,Dale may use his calling line to place a call to the feature access codeand to interact with the rental system so as to extend the provision oftemporary advanced call forwarding services to his calling line. Asnoted above, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention checkswhether a rental agreement (or other rental information) is in placeprior to collecting new or additional rental information. Preferably,the SCP 27 checks whether a rental agreement (or rental information) isin place before the SCP 27 provides the SCN 36 with collectioninstructions. If the SCP 27 finds that a rental agreement (or rentalinformation) is in place, then the SCP 27 may provide the SCN 42 withcollection instructions that specify that the SCN 36 collect the rentalinformation based on an inquiry for a change in the rental information.After the SCN 36 collects the change in the rental information, the SCN36 may prepare a change in the rental agreement regarding the temporaryadvanced telecommunication services for the calling line number. Asbefore, the SCN 36 provides the rental information and/or rentalagreement, but with the change in the rental information and/or therental agreement, to the SCP 27. The SCP 27 then takes steps to bringabout the change in the temporary advanced telecommunication service byproviding change activation instructions to the switch serving thecalling line number.

Advantageously, in an exemplary embodiment, the caller is provided withconfirmation as to the activation of the service or to the change in theservice. In particular, as indicated by arrow 62 in FIG. 4, the SCP 27provides confirmation to the SCN 36 of the activation or of the changeactivation of the temporary telecommunication service for the callingline number. With this confirmation step, the caller may rest assuredthat the temporary advanced telecommunication service or the change tothe service is applied to his or her calling line number. For example,after the advanced call forwarding service is activated with respect toDale's calling line number, the SCP 27 provides a confirmation to theSCN 36 that such activation has taken place. The SCN 36, preferablythrough use of the rental service interface 38, may provide Dale with anannouncement that confirms that activation had taken place pursuant tothe terms of the rental agreement. This confirmation from the SCN 36 tothe caller is illustrated as arrow 64 in FIG. 4.

After this rental of the advanced service, calls that are directed toDale's calling line number are forwarded pursuant to his directions. Forexample, a communication that arrives at the SSP 22 a that serves Dale'scalling line number will be paused in its further processing based onthe active state of the TAT trigger on Dale's calling line. The SSP 22 achecks with the SCP 27 as to further processing of the communication.The SCP 27 accesses the rental agreement in its database or servicepackage application with respect to this calling line number andprovides the SSP 22 a with instructions based on that rental agreement.The SSP 22 a then carries out the instructions with respect to thecommunication.

Customer Initiated Termination of the Rental of an Advanced Service

The preceding section described an exemplary method and system of thepresent invention in the context of a customer making use of the rentalsystem to select and activate a temporary advanced telecommunicationservice. Generally, the same exemplary method and system may be used bya customer to terminate the rental of a temporary advancedtelecommunication service, but with certain modifications in the stepsand system. For example, assume Dale returns early from vacation anddesires to terminate the rental of the advanced call forwarding servicethat was applied to his calling line number.

Referring to FIG. 4 again, as indicated by arrow 42, Dale places a callfrom his calling line 25 a and directs the call to the feature accesscode. The SSP 22 a triggers on the feature access code, pauses in theprocessing of the communication, and initiates a query/response exchange(arrows 44, 46) with the SCP 27. The SCP 27 retains the identificationinformation relating to the communication (including preferably the OPC)and provides the SSP 22 a with instructions in a response to route thecommunication to the SCN 36. As indicated by arrow 48, the SSP 22 aroutes the communication to the SCN 36. The SCN 36 reads the callingline ID associated with the communication and initiates an informationexchange (arrows 50, 52) with the SCP 27. The SCP 27 checks with theappropriate database of the appropriate SPA and finds that a rentalagreement is in place with respect to this calling line number. The SCPprovides the SCN 36 with information to that effect. The SCN 36 thenengages in an information exchange (arrow 54) with Dale and obtainsinformation that Dale desires to terminate the rental of the advancedservice. As indicated by arrow 56, the SCN 36 provides this informationas to the termination of the advanced service to the SCP 27. The SCP 27then initiates an exchange with the appropriate SSP 22 a (arrows 58, 60)based on the identification information that the SCP 27 had retainedwhen it was initially queried by the SSP 22 a about the communication.In the exchange, the SCP 27 provides the SSP 22 a with instructions tochange the status of the TAT trigger from active to idle. After the SCP27 receives confirmation from the SSP 22 a as to this change, then theSCP 27, in turn, provides confirmation to the SCN 36 as indicated byarrow 62. The SCN 36 then may provide confirmation to Dale that theadvanced service that had been applied to his calling line 25 a has beenterminated. Henceforth, communications directed to Dale's calling linenumber are not forwarded.

Termination of an Advanced Service Based on Expiration of a RentalAgreement

In the previous section, an exemplary method and system is describedwith respect to customer termination of the rental of an advancedservice. But an advanced service may be terminated based upon theexpiration of a predetermined amount of time as specified by thecustomer or for other reasons. As explained above, the SCP 27 and inparticular SPA #3 retains the rental information or rental agreementwith respect to the customer. This rental information or rentalagreement may include information with respect to the length of timethat advanced services are to be applied to the customer's calling line.The SPA #3 may retain a flag with respect to this rental agreement thata time has been set for termination of the advanced service. Thus, whena communication directed to the customer's calling line number isreceived and a query is made to the SCP 27 for processing instructions,the SCP 27 and in particular SPA #3 checks this flag to determinewhether the set time has expired. If the set time has not expired, thenthe SCP 27 provides the SSP 22 a with instructions with respect to theapplication of the advanced services. If the set time has expired, thenthe SCP 27 provides the SSP 22 a with instructions to route thecommunication without application of advanced services. In addition, theSCP 27 and in particular SPA #3 sends an instruction to the SSP 22 a tochange the status in the TAT trigger associated with the calling linenumber from active to idle. Further, the SCP 27 and in particular SPA #3removes or otherwise deletes the rental agreement so that it is nolonger retained with respect to the relevant calling line number. Withthe change in status of the TAT trigger on the customer's calling lineand with the deletion of the rental agreement, the customer's callingline is no longer accorded advanced services. Advantageously, the changein the status of the TAT trigger assures that wasteful query/responseexchanges do not take place with respect to the customer's calling linenumber, and deletion of the rental agreement frees up space in thedatabase to service other temporary service requests.

The present invention provides methods and systems for initiating thedeactivation of a temporary advanced telecommunication service in theAIN which has been activated based upon a rental agreement relating to acalling line without SPA supervision. FIG. 5 is a flow diagramillustrating an exemplary method 500 of operation of the presentinvention. Referring now to FIG. 5, after the start step 510, in step520 notice is taken of an event. Generally, the event will be acommunication directed to a calling line. However, the event maycomprise a deadwood inquiry to initiate the deletion of rentalagreements for a calling line to which no communication has beendirected after the expiration of the termination time. Other types ofevents and uses therefor will become apparent to those skilled in theart.

In response to the event in step 530, a check is made of the rentalagreement relating to the calling line. The rental agreement includes atermination time for the temporary advanced telecommunication servicefor the calling line and may comprise a rental record including thetermination time. At step 540, a determination is made as to whether thetermination time for the temporary advanced telecommunication servicehas expired. If the termination time has not expired, a branch is takento step 560 where method 500 ends. If the termination time has expired,a branch is taken to step 550, where the temporary advancedtelecommunication service is deactivated with respect to the callingline.

At step 550, the temporary advanced telecommunication service may bedeactivated by deleting the rental record associated from the rentalagreement. The temporary advanced telecommunication service may also bedeactivated by releasing a trigger which is set when the temporaryadvanced telecommunication service is activated. The trigger causes acheck to be made of the rental agreement in response to the receipt of acommunication directed to the calling line. Deactivating the temporaryadvanced telecommunication service by releasing the trigger ensures thatno further checks will be made of the rental agreement and that thetemporary advanced telecommunication service will no longer be appliedto communications directed to the calling line. At step 560, the method500 ends.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a second exemplary method 600 forinitiating the deactivation of a temporary advanced telecommunicationservice. Method 600 initiates the deactivation of a plurality oftemporary advanced telecommunication services which may be associatedwith a calling line and activated based upon a rental agreement.Referring now to FIG. 6, after the start step 610, notice is taken of anevent in step 620. As with respect to method 500, this event isgenerally a communication directed to a calling line, however, the eventmay be a deadwood inquiry or other event.

In response to the event, a check is made of the rental agreement instep 630. The rental agreement may comprise rental records withtermination times for each of the plurality of temporary advancedtelecommunication services associated with the calling line. In step640, a check is made to determine whether the termination time hasexpired for one of the plurality of temporary advanced telecommunicationservices associated with the calling line. If the termination time hasnot expired, a branch is taken to step 660. If the termination time hasexpired, the particular temporary advanced telecommunication service isdeactivated in step 650.

The deactivation which takes place in step 650 may comprise deleting therental record associated with the particular temporary advancedtelecommunication service which has expired. In step 660, a check ismade to determine if any other temporary advanced telecommunicationservices are associated with the calling line. This may be accomplishedby determining if any rental records exist in the rental agreement. If arental record exists, then there must be at least one additionaltemporary advanced telecommunication service associated with the callingline and a branch is taken to step 630 and the above process repeats. Ifthere are no temporary advanced telecommunication services associatedwith the calling line, the method 600 ends at step 670. The rentalagreement may be deleted and, if a trigger was set to activate thetemporary advanced telecommunication service as discussed above, thetrigger may be released.

Referring again to FIG. 3, an AIN element such as a local servicecontrol point (SCP) computer 27 maintains a rental agreement withrespect to a calling line, such as calling line 25 a. The rentalagreement is preferably maintained in databases 30 and contains atermination time for the temporary advanced telecommunication serviceassociated with the calling line and an association between the callingline and the service switching point (SSP) serving the calling line,such as SSP 22 a.

As described above, the association between the calling line and the SSPserving the calling line is typically stored in the rental agreementwhen the temporary advanced telecommunication service is activated. TheSCP 27 uses this association to provide activation instructions to theSSP serving the calling line, SSP 22 a serving calling line 25 a forexample, to set a trigger for the calling line. The SSP 22 a receivesthe instructions from SCP 27 and sets the trigger, typically atermination attempt trigger (TAT) on the calling line 25 a, to an activestate.

A TAT trigger on the calling line in the active state causes a pause atthe SSP 22 a serving the calling line 25 a in the processing of anycommunication received on or directed to the calling line number. Inthis manner, when a communication is directed to the calling line number24 a, the SSP 22 a queries the SCP 27 for instructions on how to processthe communication. In this manner, a check is made in the SCP 27 of therental agreement for the calling line 25 a each time a communication isdirected to the calling line.

When the SCP 27 receives the query from the SSP 22 a for processinginstructions, the SCP 27 checks the rental agreement for the callingline 25 a. In particular, SCP 27 checks the rental agreement containedin databases 30 and determines whether the termination time for thetemporary advanced telecommunication service associated with the callingline 25 a has expired. If the termination time has expired, the SCP 27directs the deactivation of the temporary advanced telecommunicationservice for the calling line.

The SCP 27 deactivates the temporary advanced telecommunication servicefor the calling line 25 a by using the association between the callingline 25 a and the SSP 22 a serving the calling line 25 a to provideinstructions to that SSP 22 a to release the TAT trigger for the callingline 25 a. After the TAT trigger has been released, the SSP 22 a will nolonger pause for processing instructions from the SCP 27, and thetemporary advanced telecommunication service will not be applied. TheSCP 27 also deletes the rental agreement from databases 30.

As a practical example, fictional customer Dale, described above, mayrequest that the call forwarding temporary advanced telecommunicationservice be applied to his calling line number while he is away onvacation. Dale, therefore, may use the above-described rental system tospecify a termination time at which time the requested advanced serviceshould terminate. The SCP 27 retains the rental information or rentalagreement with respect to Dale in databases 30. The rental informationmay include the termination time which Dale specified and an associationbetween Dale's calling line number and the SSP servicing the callingline. The SCP 27 uses this association to provide activationinstructions to the SSP serving the calling line, SSP 22 a servingcalling line 25 a for example, to set a trigger for Dale's calling line.The SSP 22 a receives the instructions from SCP 27 and sets the trigger,typically a termination attempt trigger (TAT) on the calling line 25 a,to an active state.

Thus, when Dale is away on vacation and a communication is receiveddirected to Dale's calling line number, the TAT on Dale's calling linenumber causes a query to be made to the SCP 27 for processinginstructions. When the SCP 27 receives the query from the SSP 22 a forprocessing instructions, the SCP 27 checks the rental agreement forDale's number, calling line 25 a. In particular, SCP 27 checks therental agreement contained in databases 30 and determines whether thetermination time for the temporary advanced telecommunication serviceassociated with calling line 25 a has expired. If the termination timerequested by Dale has not expired, control of the call is passed to theSPA responsible for implementing the call forwarding service which Dalerequested. On the other hand, if the termination time requested by Dalehas expired (and, hopefully, Dale has returned from vacation),. the SCP27 directs the deactivation of call forwarding for Dale's calling line.

The SCP 27 deactivates call forwarding for Dale's calling line 25 a byusing the association between the calling line 25 a and the SSP 22 aserving the calling line 25 a to provide instructions to SSP 22 a torelease the TAT trigger for the Dale's calling line. After the TATtrigger has been released, the SSP 22 a will no longer pause forprocessing instructions from the SCP 27, and the temporary advancedtelecommunication service will not be applied to Dale's calling line.The SCP 27 also deletes the rental agreement from databases 30. In thismanner, calls directed to Dale's calling time after the specifiedexpiration time will not be forwarded.

The above-described examples illustrate that the present inventionprovides a caller-activated rental system for temporary advancedtelecommunication services and methods therefor. The above-describedexamples also illustrate that the present invention provides systems andmethods for initiating the deactivation of a temporary advancedtelecommunication service. By this invention, a customer does not haveto rely on the service representative of a telecommunication serviceprovider to set up and activate an advanced service. Rather, thecustomer may place a call whenever the customer desires to activate orrent an advanced service. Moreover, the deactivation of temporaryadvanced telecommunication services may be initiated without theintervention of a human service representative or the use of computertimers. Additionally, a communication does not have to be transferred toa service provider application prior to determining whether thetermination time for the temporary advanced telecommunication serviceassociated with the calling line has expired.

From the foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention and operation thereof, other embodiments will suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of thepresent invention is to be limited only by the claims below andequivalents thereof.

I claim:
 1. In an advanced intelligent network (AIN) having a rentalsystem of temporary advanced telecommunication services wherein anactivation of a temporary advanced telecommunication service has beenmade based on a rental agreement relating to a calling line, a method toinitiate deactivation of the temporary advanced telecommunicationservice with respect to the calling line, the method comprising thesteps of: A. taking notice of an event; B. in response to the notice ofthe event, making a check of the rental agreement relating to thecalling line, the rental agreement including a termination time for thetemporary advanced telecommunication service for the calling line; C.making a determination that the termination time has expired; and D. inresponse to the determination, making a deactivation of the temporaryadvanced telecommunication service with respect to the calling line. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the rental agreement comprises a rentalrecord including the termination time for the temporary advancedtelecommunication service for the calling line; and wherein thedeactivation comprises deletion of the rental record from the rentalagreement.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the activation of thetemporary advanced telecommunication service comprises setting a triggerto cause a check of the rental agreement in response to receipt of acommunication directed to the calling line; and wherein the deactivationcomprises releasing the trigger so as to avoid another check of therental agreement in response to receipt of another communicationdirected to the calling line.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein theevent comprises a deadwood inquiry; and wherein Step A comprises takingthe notice of the deadwood inquiry.
 5. In an advanced intelligentnetwork (AIN) having a rental system of temporary advancedtelecommunication services wherein an activation of a plurality oftemporary advanced telecommunication services has been made based on arental agreement relating to a calling line, a method to initiatedeactivation of said plurality of temporary advanced telecommunicationservices with respect to the calling line, the method comprising thesteps of: A. taking notice of an event; B. in response to the notice ofthe event, making a check of the rental agreement relating to thecalling line, the rental agreement including a termination time for eachof said plurality of temporary advanced telecommunication services forthe calling line; C. making a determination that the termination timehas expired for a plurality of said plurality of temporary advancedtelecommunication services; and D. in response to the determination,making a deactivation of each of the plurality of temporary advancedtelecommunication services for which the termination time has expiredwith respect to the calling line.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein theevent comprises a deadwood inquiry; and wherein Step A comprises takingthe notice of the deadwood inquiry.
 7. The method of claim 5, whereinthe rental agreement comprises a plurality of rental records including atermination time for a plurality of temporary advanced telecommunicationservices for the calling line; and wherein the deactivation comprisesdeletion of the rental record from the rental agreement for each of theplurality of temporary advanced telecommunication services for which thetermination time has expired with respect to the calling line.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the activation of said temporary advancedtelecommunication services comprises setting a trigger to cause a checkof the rental agreement in response to receipt of a communicationdirected to the calling line; and wherein the deactivation furthercomprises making a check of the rental agreement to determine whetherthe rental agreement contains any rental records; finding that therental agreement contains no rental records, releasing the trigger so asto avoid another check of the rental agreement in response to receipt ofanother communication directed to the calling line.
 9. In an advancedintelligent network (AIN) having a rental system of temporary advancedtelecommunication services wherein an activation of a temporary advancedtelecommunication service has been made based on a rental agreementrelating to the calling line, a system to initiate deactivation of thetemporary advanced telecommunication service with respect to the callingline, comprising: a first AIN element operative: A. to take notice of anevent; B. to make a check of the rental agreement relating to thecalling line, the rental agreement including a termination time for thetemporary advanced telecommunication service for the calling line; C. tomake a determination that the termination time has expired; and D. tomake a deactivation of the temporary advanced telecommunication servicewith respect to the calling line.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein therental agreement comprises a rental record including the terminationtime for the temporary advanced telecommunication service for thecalling line; and wherein the deactivation comprises deletion of therental record from the rental agreement.
 11. The system of claim 9,wherein the activation of the temporary advanced telecommunicationservice comprises setting a trigger in a second AIN element functionallyconnected to the first AIN element to cause a check of the rentalagreement in response to receipt of a communication directed to thecalling line; and wherein the deactivation comprises releasing thetrigger in the second AIN element so as to avoid another check of therental agreement in response to receipt of another communicationdirected to the calling line.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein thesecond AIN element comprises a service switching point serving thecalling line; and wherein activation of the temporary advancedtelecommunication service comprises setting a trigger in the serviceswitching point serving the calling line to cause an event to occur inresponse to receipt of a communication directed to the calling line; andwherein the deactivation comprises releasing the trigger in the serviceswitching point serving the calling line.
 13. The system of claim 12,wherein the rental agreement further comprises an association betweenthe calling line and the service switching point serving the callingline; and wherein the association between the calling line and theservice switching point serving the calling line may be used in thedeactivation of the temporary advanced telecommunication service for thecalling line.
 14. In an advanced intelligent network (AIN) having arental system of temporary advanced telecommunication services whereinan activation of a temporary advanced telecommunication service has beenmade based on a rental agreement relating to the calling line, a systemto initiate deactivation of the temporary advanced telecommunicationservice with respect to the calling line, comprising: A. a servicecontrol point (SCP) operative to maintain said rental agreement, saidrental agreement comprising an association between the calling line anda service switching point (SSP) serving the calling line, said rentalagreement further comprising a rental record including the terminationtime for the temporary advanced service for the calling line, and theservice control point further operative to activate said temporaryadvanced telecommunications service by providing instructions to theservice switching point to set a trigger for the calling line; B. theservice switching point being functionally connected to the servicecontrol point, and being operative to recognize a request from theservice control point to set a trigger for the calling line; to set atrigger for the calling line; to recognize a communication directed tothe calling line; to recognize the trigger associated with the callingline as requiring additional processing instructions; to request furtherprocessing instructions from the service control point; C. the servicecontrol point being further operative, in response to the request forfurther processing instructions: to make a check of the rental agreementrelating to the calling line, to make a determination that thetermination time has expired; to use the association between the callingline and the service switching point servicing the calling line toprovide instructions to the service switching point serving the callingline to release the trigger for the calling line; and to delete therental agreement.